Anand Sharma, India's Minister for Commerce and Industry, spoke at the Peterson Institute on "India in a Globalized World," June 18, 2009. He addressed the challenges faced by India as it continues to globalize, including its engagement in the world trading system.

Anand Sharma has been a prominent leader of the student and youth movement in India. He was one of the founders of NSUI, the student wing of the Indian National Congress, and worked closely with late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He was first elected to Parliament in 1984 at the age of 31. He has been a prominent public face of the Indian National Congress and was Chief Spokesman of the party for six years. He was elevated to the Union Council of Ministers with responsibility for Foreign Affairs in January 2006 and assumed the additional charge of Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting in October 2008.